Marlies Double Up on Comets

Game Recap:

The Marlies got back in the win column Wednesday night after doubling up on the visiting Utica Comets by a final score of 6-3. Calle Rosen had two goals on the night while Vincent LoVerde and Jeremy Bracco each picked up three assists.

Colin Greening opened the scoring for the Marlies at 9:14 of the opening frame, beating Comets’ netminder Ivan Kulbakov with a wrist shot from the top of the circle. Dmytro Timashov and LoVerde assisted on Greening’s third of the season. The Comets evened the score 1-1 at 10:53 as Tanner Kero scored his 14thof the season from Reid Boucher and Lukas Jasek. At 16:34, Rosen fired a shot from the blueline that bounced its way past Kulbakov to put the Marlies up 2-1. Josh Jooris and Bracco assisted on Rosen’s third of the season. Late in the frame, Pierre Engvall gave the Marlies a three-goal cushion, firing a shot from the hashmarks past Kulbakov. LoVerde and Bracco assisted on Engvall’s eighth of the season. The Marlies held the Comets to only three shots on goal in the opening frame and held a 3-1 lead heading into the first intermission.

Trevor Moore added a goal in the second, firing the puck from an awkward angle behind the net that went in off the back of Kulbakov. Mason Marchment and Sam Jardine assisted on Moore’s 18thof the season. Late in the frame, Kero picked up his second of the night for the Comets to bring them within two heading into the final frame.

The Comets came within one early in the third as Brendan Gaunce redirected a shot past Kasimir Kaskisuo. At 7:14, the Marlies answered back as Jeremy Bracco carried the puck into the offensive zone and patiently outwaited the Comets’ back-checkers before setting up Rosen for his second goal of the night. Chris Mueller added the extra assist on the goal. At 15:51, Carl Grundstrom sealed the deal with an empty net goal as the Marlies cruised to a 6-3 win to even the season series against the Comets 2-2.

Next up, the Marlies will head to Rochester on Friday for the first half of a home and home against the Amerks.

Colin Greening opened the scoring with his third of the season at 9:14 of the first period. Greening has nine points (3 goals, 6 assists) in 37 games this season.

Calle Rosen scored at 16:34 of the first period and at 7:14 of the third period. Rosen has five points (2 goals, 3 assists) in his last four games.

Pierre Engvall scored at 19:11 of the first period. Engvall has 14 points (8 goals, 6 assists) through 33 games this season.

Trevor Moore scored the game-winning goal at 8:42 of the second period. This was Moore’s fourth game-winner of the season. Moore is tied for third in the AHL in scoring with his 18th The Marlies when Moore scores a goal are 10-2-1-1.

Carl Grundstrom scored the empty-net goal at 15:51 of the third period. Grundstrom has 24 points (10 goals, 14 assists) in 35 games this season. When Grundstrom scores a goal, the Marlies are 6-0-0-1.

Dmytro Timashov recorded the primary assist on Greening’s opening goal in the first period. Timashov has six assists in his last six games.

Vincent LoVerde registered the secondary assist on Greening’s first period goal and the primary assist on Engvall’s first period goal.He later added the lone assist on Grundstrom’s empty net goal. This is LoVerde’s first multipoint game of the season.

Josh Jooris had the primary assist on Rosen’s first period goal. Jooris has 10 points (6 goals, 4 assists) in 37 games.

Jeremy Bracco recorded the secondary assists on Rosen and Engvall’s first period goals. He later added the primary assist on Rosen’s second goal of the game in the third period. Bracco leads the AHL in assists (29). Bracco has nine assists in his last five games and has recorded two or more assists in 10 games this season.

Mason Marchment registered the primary assist on Moore’s second period goal. Marchment has 20 points (9 goals, 11 assists) through 32 games. Toronto is 9-1-1-1 when Marchment records a point.

Sam Jardine had the secondary assist on Moore’s second period goal. Jardine has four assists through 17 games this season.

Chris Mueller recorded the secondary assist on Rosen’s third period goal. Mueller leads the Marlies with 39 points (19 goals, 20 assists) through 35 games this season. Mueller has eight points (6 goals, 2 assists) in his last six games.

Kasimir Kaskisuo stopped 16 of 19 shots he faced. Kaskisuo is now 5-6-1-0 on the season with a .867 Save Percentage and a 3.85 Goals Against Average.

OF NOTE…

Toronto went 3-for-3 on the penalty kill and 0-for-1 on the power play.

Toronto had a 29-19 edge in shots in all situations. Calle Rosen led the Marlies with five shots on goal.

The Marlies are 13-11-3-2 against North Division opponents and are 2-2-0-0 against the Utica Comets this season. Toronto has outscored Utica 20-18 this season.

Toronto is playing eight games split evenly between home and the road over 16 days from December 28 to January 12. Through six games, the Marlies are currently 4-2-0-0 and have outscored their opponents 23-19. Through this span, they will face the Rochester Americans three times, the Charlotte Checkers twice as well as the Syracuse Crunch, Binghamton Devils and the Utica Comets.

REGULAR SEASON LEADERS

Goals: C. Mueller (19)

Assists: J. Bracco (29)

Points: C. Mueller (39)

PPG: C. Mueller (9)

Shots: S. Gagner (102)

+/-: C. Grundstrom (+8)

PIMS: S. Oleksy (51)

RECORD WHEN…

Toronto is 15-4-1-0 when scoring first in the game.

The Marlies are 12-1-1-0 when leading after the first period and 12-0-1-0 when leading after the second period.

Toronto is 11-8-2-1 when outshooting their opponent.

The Marlies are 3-2-0-0 in Wednesday games and are 3-1-0-0 in January.

CURRENT POINT STREAKS

No streaks

MARLIES UPDATES

Andreas Borgman (concussion) did not dress for tonight’s game. He left Toronto’s game on December 19 against Binghamton and did not return.

Timothy Liljegren (ankle) did not dress for tonight’s game. He is week-to-week with a high ankle sprain.

Steve Oleksy (head)did not dress for tonight’s game. He left Toronto’s game on January 5 against Syracuse and did not return.

Rasmus Sandin (elbow sprain) did not dress for tonight’s game following an injury sustained during the World Juniors.

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

January 8:Returned goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo on loan from Toronto (NHL).

January 8:Returned forward Trevor Moore on loan from Toronto (NHL).

January 7:Recalled goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo from loan by Toronto (NHL).

January 6:Returned goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo on loan from Toronto (NHL).

January 5:Recalled goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo from loan by Toronto (NHL.

January 4:Returned goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo on loan from Toronto (NHL).

POSTGAME QUOTES

HEAD COACH SHELDON KEEFE

On letting Utica back into the game in the second period:
I think that it really started in the second period for us, I didn’t like how that period went, a lot of it. I thought we just were careless with the puck and kind of gave them some length, gave them the puck back and let them play in transition, play the speed and all those types of things that kind of generate momentum for your team. So, I didn’t like that and I thought that’s where that started was in the second period and the goal in the third period was just a turnover for us in our own zone. We got rid of the puck for no reason, gave it back to them. But what I really liked is that it didn’t rattle us. We just kept playing, we settled things down and we had a big time play by Jeremy Bracco and Rosie and that we didn’t give up very much in that third period afterwards, so that’s a really good sign for our team.

On Jeremy Bracco’s play this season:
He just looks very comfortable and he’s a player, (with) the type of skills he has, he needs to be comfortable. I don’t know if he ever quite got to that point last season, but we expected him to be able to contribute significantly in this year. In fact, I think it might of been last year while we were celebrating the Calder Cup on the ice, I congratulated him and kind of said “This is going to be your team next year” in terms of offence and he looked at me a little sideways because it’s quite a jump from going from being a scratch in the playoffs to doing what he’s doing, but that’s what we felt about his abilities and he’s taking advantage of the opportunities that he’s gotten and he’s rolling.

Game Preview:

The Toronto Marlies (17-14-3-2) return to action tonight to host the Utica Comets (20-16-2-1) for a 7:00 PM start at Coca-Cola Coliseum. The Marlies are looking to bounce back from a 5-0 loss at the hands of the Charlotte Checkers on Sunday, while the Comets are coming off a 5-1 win over Cleveland and are currently riding the high of a four-game win streak.

These two teams met three times in October, with the Marlies taking the first contest in Utica before dropping the next two at home. The Comets have been solid on the road this season and hold the second-best away record (11-7-2-1) in the league.

Players to Watch: Comets’ forwards Reid Boucher and Tanner Kero sit in the top 20 in league scoring with 33 points and 31 points respectively. Chris Mueller is fourth in league scoring amongst active skaters in the league and continues to lead the way for the Marlies with 38 points. Marlies defenceman Calle Rosen is third in the league for assists (22) and eighth in the league for points (24). Jeremy Bracco is tied for the league lead in assists (26) with Chicago’s T.J. Tynan and is in the top 20 in points with 33. Trevor Moore returns to the lineup tonight after a six-game stint with the Toronto Maple Leafs where he registered three points including his first career NHL goal.

A reminder to fans in attendance that tonight’s game is a Winning Weeknight, so if the Marlies win, so do you!

Puck drops at 7:00 PM and fans can catch the action on Leafs Nation Network, AHLTV and TSN 2. Follow us on Twitter and Instagramfor behind-the-scenes action from Coca-Cola Coliseum.